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Rosetta Stone Ends Three-Year Legal War Against Google to Collaborate

November 05, 2012

By Madhubanti Rudra, TMCnet Contributor

Language software maker, Rosetta Stone Inc., which has been fighting legal battle with Google (News - Alert) over trademarks for three long years, has finally decided to drop the lawsuit against the search giant.

The two companies will in turn collaborate on a fight against the practice of counterfeiting.

Arlington, VA-based Rosetta Stone provides language learning software based on cutting-edge interactive technology. The company’s proprietary learning techniques, reportedly capable of complementing one’s natural language-learning ability, are used by schools, businesses, government organizations and millions of individuals around the world.

Rosetta Stone’s technology covers 30 languages, from the most commonly spoken (like English, Spanish and Mandarin) to the less prominent (including Swahili, Swedish and Tagalog).

In its trademark infringement lawsuit, Rosetta Stone accused Google of selling its trademarks to third-party advertisers for use as search keywords. This, according to Rosetta Stone, was redirecting the prospective clients searching for its products on Google to competitors and software counterfeiters.

As proof, Rosetta Stone presented testimony of consumers who purchased bogus Rosetta Stone software from sponsored links on Google that they mistook for the genuine brand.

Rosetta Stone, Inc. (RST) and Google have agreed to dismiss the suit and settle all claims. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

The two companies agreed to meaningfully collaborate to combat online ads for counterfeit goods and prevent the misuse and abuse of trademarks on the Internet.

The companies also agreed to work together on cracking down on worldwide counterfeiters’ rackets. Google and Rosetta Stone hope to improve detection methods, and better protect from abuse brands like Rosetta Stone, advertising platforms like Google AdWords, and ultimately consumers on the Internet.

“At the end of the day, both companies would rather cooperate than litigate, and we believe this agreement is an important step toward eliminating piracy and trademark abuse on the Internet,” the companies said in joint statement.